The Happiest of Endings for a Deserving Horse

Selling and re-homing horses can be hard. Personally I find excitement and joy in matching people with the correct equine partner. I have failed twice when I was sure I had found perfect homes for horses in the past, unfortunately that is the risky nature of enterprise. What I see brighter than that in my mind though, because neither I nor anyone can save them all, are the many success stories that make me smile any time I think of the horse, or get a new email update from a satisfied owner.

Some of you may remember the lovely bay unhandled 6 yr old Arabian DF Touch of Mojo, Joey, I brought home in spring of 2012. I spent time with him & a trainer in the summer & fall of 2012 & he soaked up knowledge like a sponge, while having a hard time learning to trust humans. He is of the Haat Shaat lines that my mare & filly are & it was fascinating to work with the similarities I recognized but learn from the many differences. 

Joey was never boring, here is a blog I posted on The Great Blanket Escapade, which earned him a cartoon drawn up by an artist often featured on that back page in Endurance News:

http://redheadedendurance.blogspot.com/2012/04/joey-is-cartoon-star.html

Joey needed more personal time than being a 3rd or 4th horse here with me & I try to be respectful of my husband in keeping horses around that he is comfortable handling when I am on the road. Joshua was amazing with Joey and saved him from the Great Blanket Incident when I was at Cuyama XP 2012 but I completely understood his desire for a comfort level with the big animals here. I sought a new home for Joey for months but in spring of 2013 the right person finally contacted me. Her name was Norma and I never met her in person before bringing her Joey. We chatted for literally hours about horses known and loved and lost on the phone before ever meeting each other--and I delivered Joey to her in Grass Valley, CA without hesitation. 

Here's the May 2013 blog of Joey's arrival at his new home:
http://redheadedendurance.blogspot.com/2013/05/joeys-new-home.html

I had a happy email from Norma in early fall last year and I had just begun to wonder how things were going with Norma and Joey in the new year when I received this email yesterday morning:

"Hi Aurora,
Hope your holidays were lovely, that you are well and that there is a new colt at your place! [from A: She knows me so well!] 

I call your Joey " Finally Joey" as I expect he will be my last horse and be with me another 30 years which puts me at 98! He is fine letting Isabella Fawn be the lead. They are always together! They graze down in the meadow, race back up to the barn, both love their daily brushing, hugs and kisses. He especially loves his fresh water. Capri, my Great Pyreneese, kisses him thru the fence as she does all her animals. Finally knows that I'm good for a treat after they finish their breakfast so anytime he sees me it's treat time to him...even if they are still eating! He just stands quietly beside the fence and waits for a sure thing! He makes me laugh! Several of my friends have been here to visit and are astonished that the horses come right up to us in the pasture! No fear!

They had their mani and pedis today. Ladies first and he's good with that! Both my ferrior and vet are very kind and gentle men.

Finally Joey is very smart, calm, loving, trusting, just absolutely perfect! I'm sure you know how tightly my Jabu had woven himself into my heart and that I've deeply loved all of my horses. I didn't think I would ever love another horse as much as I loved Jabu but thru Finally I've learned that the Arabian is my breed. Our bond grown deeper each day!

Know that you are welcome to visit any time.

Norma"

Here's Joey in his home with the gorgeous blue roan Isabella, Norma's late teens home trained BLM Mustang mare: